CERTAIN JAIL TIME FOR GUN CRIMES

Cotler: Minister Defends About-Turn On Sentencing

OTTAWA - Justice Minister Irwin Cotler says his about-turn on minimum
mandatory sentences makes sense in the face of escalating gun crime.

The minority Liberals, bracing for an election by spring if not
sooner, say new legislation to be introduced this month will mean
certain jail time for gun-toting criminals.

Cotler, who has repeatedly dismissed minimum sentences as legally
ineffective, defended the concept Thursday as politically valuable
when it comes to such weapons.

Automatic incarceration would send a message to judges, prosecutors
and criminals, he told a news conference on Parliament Hill.

"Offenders: You will go to jail without passing Go."

Cotler says minimum sentences would let everyone know that Parliament
wants an end to the gun crime that is plaguing parts of Canada's
bigger cities.

Besides, the new legislation would enhance a Criminal Code that
already sets out 20 mandatory minimum sentences for gun offences, he
noted.

Cotler has argued against such measures in other areas of the law
because he says they hamstring judges and do not deter criminals.

But he downplayed the apparent contradiction, saying the evidence is
less clean-cut when it comes to mandatory minimum sentences and gun
crimes.

"Whether it will or will not serve as a deterrent, we'll
see."

A special task force will track statistics and measure results, Cotler
said.

He'll have to persuade top defence lawyers and other critics who fear
the Liberal plan is an ineffective sop to "law-and-order" forces as a
federal election looms.

The Conservatives have long called for tougher mandatory minimum
sentences in a range of areas.

Conservative justice critic Vic Toews said Cotler is poaching Tory
policy but missing a crucial point -- the need to get much tougher
with drug traffickers.

"I simply don't understand where he's been, but at the root of the
[gun] violence is a struggle for the drug trade," Toews said in an
interview.

"Here he thinks he's going to enhance mandatory minimum sentences but
not deal with the larger problem of drug trafficking."